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This test consists of 5 multiple choice questions, 5 short answer questions, and 10 short essay questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. On page 334, the narrator refers to the "panoply" of Miss Coulson's "unthrilled bosom." What is the meaning of "panoply" in this context?
(a) Unemotional wisdom.
(b) Ceremonial clothing.
(c) An impressive array.
(d) A suit of armor.

2. When Mr. Coulson is irritated, he complains that no one in the house does what?
(a) Cares if he lives or dies.
(b) Attempts to entertain him.
(c) Listens to him when he speaks.
(d) Responds when he rings for a servant.

3. What are the "portières" that Miss Coulson is sitting near?
(a) Hanging lamps.
(b) Wall hangings.
(c) Curtains hung in the doorway.
(d) Window shutters.

4. On the final morning of the story, what causes Mr. Coulson's mood to change?
(a) Miss Coulson has told him that he is behaving badly.
(b) He is in much less pain than usual.
(c) It is warm again and the windows are open.
(d) Mrs. Widdup has threatened to quit.

5. What does the narrator call the "most potent weapons of insidious May" (334)?
(a) Warm breezes.
(b) Sunny days.
(c) Flowers.
(d) Birds.

Short Answer Questions

1. What physical gesture of affection does Mr. Coulson make toward Mrs. Widdup?

2. What is Mrs. Widdup's job?

3. What does Miss Coulson's believe about love?

4. When Mr. Coulson complains about the cold, what is his servant's response?

5. With which motif is Miss Coulson most identified?

Short Essay Questions

1. How does O. Henry use dry humor to reveal the narrator's opinion about Mrs. Widdup in the narrative intrusion on page 333?

2. When Miss Coulson says that the supposedly chilly weather is "An instance...of winter lingering in the lap of spring," what double meaning does she have in mind? (335).

3. When rhetorical purposes are served by the passage where the narrator says that the scent of flowers was carried in through the window and "fought" with the scent of Mr. Coulson's gout medicine?

4. What is the rhetorical purpose of the allusions to Puck and Circe?

5. What happens when Mrs. Widdup makes an excuse to go into Mr. Coulson's room to speak with him after the ice is delivered?

6. What is the thematic significance of the olfactory image of the city in springtime?

7. What is Miss Coulson's plan to head off her father's budding romance?

8. What happens overnight that changes Mrs. Widdup and Mr. Coulson's fate?

9. When Mr. Coulson complains that no one in the house cares if he lives or dies, how does Mrs. Widdup's reply set the events of the story in motion?

10. What rhetorical purposes does O. Henry accomplish with his introduction of Mr. Coulson through a list of things that he "has," like gout, money, and a daughter?

(see the answer keys)

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